Tai Hollingsbee does not waste time wondering about timber's role in the future of prefabrication.
"The future is here," said Mr Hollingsbee, the principal of sustainable and performative design at engineering giant GHD.
The driving force in this progress is that more people are living in cities.
"I see timber as one of the pathways where we can address resource efficiency, energy efficiency, and living better and healthier closer together," he said.
Mr Hollingsbee outlined his views at a conference in Brisbane this month organised by the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australia.
"Timber can be beautiful. There are a wide range of examples around the world; large beautiful structures," he said, citing one of the world's largest timber structures, the Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain.
The award-winning project, built a decade ago, consists of six large timber parasols, built in a mushroom-shaped lattice. The four-level structure is made from a micro-laminated wood called Kerto. Consisting of three millimetre-thick veneers glued together, it is much stronger than solid wood. There are more than 3000 connection nodes at the intersection of the timber elements.
"This is what we can do with computational tools. We can create all sorts of flows and curves out of timber. An intimate understanding of complex mathematics and engineering have enabled buildings like this to be built out of timber," he said. "Projects like this do not involve bent timber; discrete timber elements are flat but are connected in such a way to create multi-curvature forms."
Timber is the gateway for hyper-efficiency in a project Mr Hollingsbee is involved with in Melbourne: the 5x4 project at 21 Hayes Lane in East Melbourne.
"It's a tiny, pre-fabricated timber house called 5x4 because it's in a tiny plot; four metres by five metres. It's carbon neutral, and shows how to do this in a city," he said.
The three-level timber project for the Barley Store, a video and production company, will be finished in the new year.
Mr Hollingsbee said it was rectilinear, with none of the curves and complex engineering of projects such as the Metropol Parasol, but it had the same level of complex engineering and thought.
The low ecological impact is based on the life cycle of the building and the behaviour of the occupants. The timber from sustainably harvested forests contains sequestered carbon dioxide, which is then embedded in the resulting wood product.
"Steel and concrete in life-cycle analysis don't stack up as well as timber," he said.
All the wood used were standard timber products.
"Everything that is going into the building, you could buy yourself. The average person could build this project," he said.
Mr Hollingsbee said this concept was leading to what he called the "democratisation of design".
"The economics and power of digital design and manufacturing means it's getting cheaper to produce high-end engineering products," he said.
"The individual can buy and design his or her own house without the usual process of an architect or builder, although you still need someone to carry out compliance and safety checks. But a lot can be done automatically; a house of plywood components could be put together like an IKEA house."
Mr Hollingsbee said around the world, cafes were popping up where you could just walk in with a USB stick.
"You can print and make what you need while you are having your cold drip coffee," he said.
"It is inevitable that all will get cheaper and better in time. We will see more of this stuff. In the Australian context, there is a chance here for the timber industry to grab this, and really leverage off what's happening globally."
